Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam, right, and India’s captain Rohit Sharma walk into the field before the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup cricket match between India and Pakistan at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Westbury, New York. (AP | PTI)
Babar Azam-led Pakistan will need a big favour from Rohit Sharma’s Team India to stay alive in the T20 World Cup.
After Pakistan’s narrow six-run defeat against India at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York on Sunday, the 2022 runners-up, on the brink of a group-stage exit.
As things stand, Pakistan are currently in fourth place in Group A with two more games in their hands and to qualify for the Super 8 stage, they would not only need to win their remaining two fixtures against Canada and Ireland by a big margin but will also have to hope that India must thump the USA, and then Ireland to beat the co-hosts of the tournament.
India had defeated Ireland by eight wickets in its opening game at the same ground and leads Group A with four points and a better net run rate than the US team, which also has four points from its wins over Canada and Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam celebrates with Shaheen Shah Afridi after taking the wicket of India’s Rishabh Pant (Reuters)
Only two teams from each of the four groups advance to the second stage. So Pakistan needs to win its remaining games against Canada and Ireland and also hope the results of other group games go in its favour to progress to the Super 8s.
This is not the first time they have started a big tournament poorly. If history is anything to go by, the calculators are out, and Pakistan’s hope are hanging by a thread.
Here’s how Pakistan can qualify for the Super 8 stage:
🔴 Canada vs Pakistan (June 11): Pakistan must record a massive win against Canada in New York.
🔴 USA vs India (June 12): Pakistan will be hoping that India will not only beat the spirited US team but will hammer them in such a fashion that it would dent co-hosts net run rate.
🔴 USA vs Ireland (June 14): Pakistan would pray for Ireland’s win.
🔴 Canada vs India (June 15): India must steamroll Canada in this fixture.
🔴 Ireland vs Pakistan (June 16): If the above results will go accordingly, then Pakistan will have to convincingly beat Ireland.
Group A Points Table
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